Perspicacity: Lebaron's Struggle
by X24R0C57
Summary: Originally for an HMS English class, the struggle of robot assassin Lebaron against his master is sure to astound.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Koror

A scream broke out at the Novacon Building. On the 364th floor lay the body of Matthew Koror. Co-workers and janitors rushed over from next door and checked on the body. Koror was undoubtedly dead. The body showed no signs of bleeding. Two FBI agents later rushed onto the scene. It was they who found a bullet hole the size of a pinhead on the victim's chest. Koror was then taken to a coroner, who proclaimed that the bullet was aimed into the aorta, causing a fatal aneurysm and instant death.

At the same time, a shadow rushed to the skyscraper right next to the Novacon. Once in the building, the blur of movement sped into an elevator, and stood still. He was a robot, and signs showed constant repair and upgrade. He seemed to be careful that his back faced the elevator wall, and stood as if nailed to the wall itself. Once it reached the seventeenth floor, his head peeked out of the window at a speed barely registered by the naked eye. Just as suddenly, he yanked his head in again. Outside, lax construction workers pulled a cart across the floor. He raced out and concealed himself in a small crevice that was meant to hold construction boards, at a speed invisible to the workers. When the place was silent again, he ran back out, and punched a section of the wall behind him.

As if the wall was a switch, a small opening was revealed by parting drywall. The robot raced into the crevice, and crawled through. At the other end was his destination.

The robot stood up. The place was mostly dark, lit by a few barely adequate artificial torches. Instead of racing, the robot walked slowly and calmly. He had a sniper rifle hooked to his back, and his face had no human features. It was simply a red scan line, an olfactory sensor, and cold heartless metal. At the other end of the facility was a dark figure. He had long hair, a brown goatee, and eyes that made him look like a fish. The robot strode forward. When his scan line registered that he was seven feet from the master, he unhooked his sniper rifle. He then laid it down, and bowed.

"The usual, Lebaron?"

"Yes, Master. I was invisible the entire time, and my shooting was acceptable. However, I fear they may be catching on to me."

"Then we will have to arrange another advancement. Agreed?"

"Yes Master."

"You may depart, Lebaron."

The robot stood up and bowed. He reattached his sniper rifle, and walked out. As the crawlspace behind him in the office building shut, he stared around. There was no one, and his audio sensors told him there was no one within five minutes of arrival. He stood there, frozen, thinking. For the first time, Lebaron doubted whether his actions were righteous.

Then he remembered the cold glare of his human master, and shook his head. A whisper escaped from his cybernetic speech system.

"Master is always right".

The next day, "The New York Times" reported the killing of the CEO of Novacorp. As Lebaron sat in his recharge cell in his underground chamber, clutching his paper, he wondered about his effect on the world. If he continued this, Master's enemies would be eliminated, giving him true dominion. One thought rang clearly in his head.

"That would not be causing the tyrannical to rule the world. It would only clear the wishes of Master. That was my created purpose, and that is the purpose I will fulfill."

As the time passed, with no calls from Master, Lebaron became bored. He then began, as always, to occupy himself with tests of wit. These were hard for the non-lateral thinkers that were humanity. However, it was quite simple for robotic entities, and it caused him great joy to solve the murder mysteries and word puzzles in his old tattered books.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Lebaron

The sound of buzzing filled the room. Lebaron's formerly unlit scan line lit up.

"Model X24R0C56. Codename: Lebaron. Turning on"

Lebaron rose from his recharge cell. Sleeping was not something a robot had to do. It was simply something he did to pass the time and recharge his uranium battery. Lebaron flexed around. He checked his sniper rifle, to make sure it was in place. Lebaron was within his underground home. It was a small shining chamber, only accessible by digging into the ground for three minutes from the Empire State Building's South Entrance. As Lebaron turned on his information processor, he learned that the United States would be fighting North Korea. Since 2005, North Korea has changed from a tiny, suspicious country to a country which had the same mass as China. Lebaron thought about how life would have been four hundred years ago. He whispered to himself, "I hope the president four hundred years ago wasn't as stupid as this Gerald Bush right now."

As he browsed news about how Todd Blair of England and Vasco Putin had signed a treaty against Kum Jing of North Korea, Lebaron jolted up. He jerked his head to the left, and answered his master's incoming call.

"Master, I am present for your call."

"Where, Lebaron? Where?"

"I am within my residence, as always."

"Well, you must get to the Trump Tower quickly. Emery is there."

"Master, I don't quite see the point. Emery is definitely capable of taking down Darrel Trump."

"Emery has been seen. An office worker reported a figure clad in shiny blue appearing in the hall before vanishing into thin air."

"Alright, then. The usual policy?"

"Lebaron! How many times do I have to tell you this? Don't be seen, and don't fire more than one bullet every five minutes!"

"I will depart, Master. Remember this, though. I can't miss. I don't miss."

"Lebaron! Shut up, and make sure Emery isn't gone by the time you return! Lebaron? I said move! Lebaron"

There was no answer at the other side. Before the Master had spoken his last sentences, Lebaron had departed. "Stupid robot!", yelled the Master, before he jammed the photo-message communicator in its slot. Lebaron was strong, but he was also too strong-willed, thought the Master. "In the next upgrade, I'm going to have to reprogram him."

Lebaron ran into the Tower as fast as he could. He kept running in circles, and no one could see him. The robot registered his surroundings. He immediately realized that he had walked onto a minefield.

There were a few hundred people in that lobby. Walking through anywhere would likely result in him touching someone. Spinning in circles still, Lebaron came up with a plan. He kicked his already-pumped leg props even further, and he was sent into the air quickly. No one noticed his sudden movement, and had someone looked in that direction, they would have seen nothing. Lebaron landed on the seventy-sixth floor with a light thud. His registries told him that it was the place with the fewest people. He then tried to flag a message to Emery. Emery's high voice came in.

"Lebaron?"

"Emery. Please, I'm here to help. Tell me your exact coordinates in the building."

Emery gave him the coordinates. Using a detailed 3D diagram that was stored in his hard drive, Lebaron cautiously traced the coordinates of Emery to a men's bathroom on the same floor.

"So, this is what you've been reduced to?"

"And I'm lucky for it too. The only reason they don't have cameras buzzing in here is because they want to preserve the privacy of the guests."

"I'm coming to get you."

With that, Lebaron shut off his telecommunicator. His scan line flushed into a deeper red, and with a flourish in the corner, he flipped up and sped into the restrooms.

Emery was stacked into the stall, against the walls, so that no person could see him without opening the door. He feared that someone would open the stall, and waited it out. Suddenly, the door opened with a loud crash. Lebaron stood there, pistol in hand, head cocked to the right.

"Lebaron, I lost my ordinance. I was forced to abandon it in a cleft space in the top of the atrium. Trump is now in his office."

Emery barely had time to react, and his sensor joints sparked, as he barely caught the pistol that flew at him.

"Change your armor, Emery. You've been seen.", said Lebaron, as he handed him a red laser dye. As Emery flashed his system over with the laser, changing his shade from a dark blue to a soft, fiery red, Lebaron jittered. He pulled the half-changed Emery into a nearby stall, and performed the universal robotic sign for "Someone's Coming".


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Trump

As the human, humming a tune, went into his stall and closed the door, Lebaron's door flew open silently, and he and Emery ran out. The two kicked their air boosts in, and silently sped to the highest point in the tower. As they invisibly floated higher and higher, Lebaron jerked his sniper off the hook, and fired up the laser bayonet. Once on the ceiling of the empty top floor, Lebaron slashed a small hole in the ceiling. After being almost seen, Emery wasn't ready to risk capture. Two shiny figures, silver and red, soon climbed out of the building and onto the outside surface of the skyscraper. While a human may have looked down 250 stories and screamed, Lebaron and Emery latched on like spiders. They climbed a story lower, and saw their target. Lebaron's red scan line darkened again.

Darrel Trump was calmly at his desk. Hesitant, he signed three papers with his fancy pen. After that, Trump walked over to his radio and waved at it. It turned on, blasting a

nova-techno tune which sounded of death and decay. A perfect requiem for his death, although he didn't know.

Lebaron slowly plunged his bayonet through the window. He worried Trump would hear or see him. Concentrated on his papers and his music, Trump sensed neither. Lebaron withdrew his bayonet, and, with an eye to the scope, lowered his rifle into the hole. Once inside, he positioned his non-shaking arms. The crosshairs of the scope, to the nearest millimeter, focused on the "dead man's path". A shot into that path lodged itself straight into the aorta.

Lebaron fired. A barely visible crimson beam was emitted from the barrel, and a muffled shriek from the silenced rifle was audible only to Lebaron and Emery. The targeting, as usual, was perfect. Trump fell down, limp. The assassination had gone perfectly.

Trump's death also triggered his instant death system. Because his heart stopped beating, a portable machine from his desk flung a knife in the direction of the bullet. Lebaron escaped the knife quickly. Emery, unaware of the trap, still fought to hide his excitement.

The knife soared at Emery. Lebaron, a fast reactor, swung out his bayonet. The knife came into contact, and clattered. However, the bayonet only deflected part of the blade. Emery's arm sliced clean off.

"Emery, I…."

"Lebaron, if you didn't touch the thing, it would have gone for my head. Thanks. It's enough. Master might replace my arm."

Just as predicted, the rain came just then. It soaked the robots. Almost every part of a robot could function in the rain. The two were not worried.

"Let's climb in", said Emery. "If we're lucky, the murder won't be detected for another fifteen minutes. By then we'll-"

With that, Emery lost his traction. As Lebaron stood, Emery screamed. Lebaron reached down to help, but an almost directly vertical slope prevented that. Rain clogged the hover systems of a robot. Lebaron could only stand there, frozen, as he saw his friend tumble down two hundred and fifty stories below.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Master

A dark shadow moved about the slums of Manhattan. It was invisible to the uncaring, and those who saw it would have regarded it as a trick of the light. Lebaron darted from street to street, seeking the coordinate his master gave him. After minutes and minutes of mice in a maze, Lebaron arrived at a formidable edification.

Kicking his boosters, Lebaron flew into the second floor of the building soundlessly. His presence was still unknown. He was lax, for he had killed gang leaders effortlessly before. This one would be no different.

Once the gang leader was in view, Lebaron crouched from the window, and lowered the barrel in. He positioned his crosshairs onto the dead man's path and fired.

The beam escaped from the rifle and flew forward. It embedded itself in front of the dead man's path. Unexpectedly, it took a turn, and pointlessly wounded the gang leader in the stomach. He fell back, alive, calling "Guards!"

Lebaron shuddered. He had missed. Frantically, he fired up his bayonet, and plunged it into the man's heart three times, slashing fanatically, spewing blood and heart flesh all across the floor on concentrated splatters. He dodged out of the room, and flew off into the night. Lebaron shut off his ponderings, so he wouldn't have to think about what would happen to him when his Master saw him.

"Lebaron! You missed the heart? How many times have I told you not to miss? You can't miss! Now your existence is questioned. There are people who think you may exist! Can you hear me?"

"Yes, Master."

"Lebaron, I want nothing less from you. As of this day, you are demoted!"

"Yes, Master."

Lebaron wasn't truly listening. He did not mind the pain that it caused him, but he wanted his Master to let his anger loose. He understood his mistake, and knew he should never make it again. However, that wasn't enough for him.

That night, Lebaron snuck back into the gang building. As he went in, he destroyed the door. His guard sensors told him there was no one there who posed a threat to him. He blurred behind the first door guard, initiating his bayonet and driving it through him. He flipped out his scimitar, and lacerated the throat of the second just-reacting guard. He then slit both of their vocal cords with two brisk slashes, bringing upon them a veil of silence that covered their cries for help. The ground was covered in a puddle of blood, but Lebaron had no trouble passing through it with his floaters. He gently but hurriedly zoomed upstairs, and cocked his sniper rifle to his eyes. He loaded the laser barrel, and stood against a wall. He poked the touch screen on the rifle's interface, and a small suppressor fit itself onto the barrel. He checked his sensors to make sure that everyone was asleep, and he sidestepped into the large room. He cocked his rifle again, and pointed it at a gangster's head. Lebaron fired.

The next morning, in an abandoned office building, fifty gangsters lay dead.

The causes of death were unknown. Knowledge of a mass murderer has been confirmed, but due to the fact that they were gangsters, the killer would be commended. However, Master would have gang leaders knowing his presence. However, Master and his seven snipers were still inconspicuous, and as long as one wasn't seen, the rest would be fine.


End file.
